


Wish I Knew You

by Sapphire_Leon



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Human Castiel (Supernatural), M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:54:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24837238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sapphire_Leon/pseuds/Sapphire_Leon
Summary: When Dean finds a mysterious number in a random book, he decides to text it and see what happens. He never expected to fall for this random stranger but now he wants to find out whoever they are.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Gabriel/Sam Winchester
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	1. The Number

Dean grumbled to himself as he wandered the bookshelves of the old Lawrence bookstore. Reading wasn't really his thing, he'd much rather be home relaxing to some Kansas or AC/DC to be honest. But he wasn't here for himself, Sam wrote down that he wanted books for his birthday so Dean was stuck trying to find something his brother would actually like.

What the hell did Sammy even like to read? He always has his nose stuck in books but whatever kind of books they were kept Dean's brow furrowed. He definitely likes fantasy and sci-fi, who the hell didn't? Even Dean found himself reading some of that stuff once in a blue moon. Mystery? Maybe, Sam did like puzzles. Horror? Nah, the last thing Dean needed was Sam running to him in the middle night crying. Romance? Nope. 

Lost in thought, Dean stumbled into the fantasy section and began to look through there. Sam already had the big names. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time, Game of Thrones, if you could name it Sam read it five times over. Maybe if Dean found something super obscure his little brother would be happy.

His fingers trailed across the books, his emerald eyes scanning the names and titles. He had no idea what book to pick, this was getting him nowhere. Dean sighed and decided to close his eyes, picking a book at random should work. Reaching out his hand, Dean's handed on a book. 

When he opened his eyes, he saw the picture of a man fighting a dragon. Yeah, this'll work.

The name Carver Edlund was printed proudly on the cover with the actual name of the book underneath it. This seemed like something Sammy would like. 

Dean flipped through the pages to find a random page to read when a small slip of folded paper fell out. He smirked and bent down to pick it up. Standing up, Dean opened the paper and was surprised to see someone actually wrote on it. It read, "Text me if you're ever bored -Angel" followed by a number.

He chuckled to himself and rolled his eyes. What girl would read some dumb fantasy novel like this? But while he laughed, something compelled him to keep it. He put the slip of paper in his pocket and walked over to the register. 

He looked around the saw no one around, should he just walk out with the book?

It was just five dollars but he guessed it wasn't worth the hassle of running into trouble for stealing something like that. So he rang the bell and waited.

From the backroom he could hear the sound of boxes falling followed by someone groaning in pain.

About a minute later, a guy walked out with his hair pulled back into a wolf tail. He was rubbing his back and sucking on a lollipop as he made his way behind the counter.

"Sorry about the wait, no one ever really shows up so you kind of caught me by surprise," said the man, his nametag reading Gabriel. 

"Uh… it's fine," Dean shrugged.

"Will that be all?" Gabriel asked, pointing to the book.

"Yeah, I think this book will work," said Dean, handing it over to the man.

When Gabriel took the book, his eyes widened and a mischievous smile spread across his face. He laughed to himself as he handed the book back to Dean.

"It's on the house," said Gabriel.

"Really?"

"Yeah, my brother used to love this book growing up. You got good taste so I'll just let you have it."

"Thanks, that's pretty awesome," said Dean, surprised but not minding the sudden act of kindness… no matter how weird it was.

"Don't mention it, I hope you'll love it as much as he did," said Gabriel, waving bye to Dean.

Dean waved back and walked over to the door, about to grab the door handle when it suddenly swung open.

"Gabriel! You'll never believe what the library was going to throw out. I think we found a real score this time," shouted out a blue-eye man with a box of books in hand.

When he saw Dean, his face immediately reddened. It was pretty cute to see, Dean had to admit. He looked to be about the same age as him with raven hair and the bluest eyes Dean had ever seen. He wore this dorky looking trench coat around some old clothes that must've been hand-me-downs. 

"I- I'm sorry," was all the guy could say.

"You're good, sorry for getting in your way," said Dean. "Do you need help with that?"

"Oh no, I'm perfectly alright to handle this on my own," said the man, walking over to the counter and dropping the box right on top of it.

"Alright well, thanks for the book," Dean said, holding the book up and walking out of the store. 

The man's eyes looked surprised and turned to Gabriel, confused.

"I didn't know that book was still for sale," said the man.

"Well Cas, I think he's going to love it. I just hope he doesn't skip any pages," said Gabriel, holding back laughter and smiling like a madman.

"Why are you so weird?" asked Cas, taking off his trench coat and digging through the box of books.

~•~•~

Dean got back to his apartment and went to his closet to dig through it for some wrapping paper. He knew he had some somewhere, he just had to find it. 

His room was a mess so he made a mental note to try and clean it later. How hard was it find some fucking wrapping paper?

The ringing of his doorbell made him jump and ended up knocking his head on one of the shelves. He cussed himself out and walked over to the door, still rubbing his head.

"Sammy! I wasn't expecting you to be here so soon," said Dean, smiling and taking his brother in his arms.

"Yeah? I thought I'd come to my birthday party a little early and help out," Sam laughed, hugging back.

"Like hell you will, I got everything handled so you don't have to worry about a thing. Your big twenty one is going to be one of the best nights of your life."

"When you say it like that, I get all excited."

"You should be, I've been working my ass off on this party."

"So what about my present?" Sam teased, taking a seat on the couch.

"A present? Is what I'm doing not enough for you?" Dean said and crossed his arms, pretending to be offended. 

"I know you got me something, so what is it? Is it a new tv? A computer? You got me a computer." 

"I was going to wrap it but if you're going to be so impatient I'll just go get it right now then."

"Now is good," said Sam, smiling.

Dean just rolled his eyes and went into his room. A minute later he came out with his hands behind his back and stood in front of his brother.

"You better be happy with this, I spent a shit ton of money on it."

"Did you really?" Sam asked, his excitement barely being contained.

"No," Dean snorted, taking the book out and handing it over to Sam. 

"A Carver Edlund book? I haven't read one of these since I was a kid," said Sam, looking over the book and flipping through the worn down pages. 

"Do you not like it?" 

"Hmm? I like it, I've read it before but I don't mind rereading books," Sam chuckled.

"Damn it! I thought I finally found something your nerdy ass hasn't read yet," Dean said with a shake of his head.

"That was your first mistake."

"Keep on talking like that and I'll return it," Dean threatened. 

"No! I'm sorry, it's perfect. I've never had a more perfect gift!"

"You're damn right you haven't," Dean laughed, going to get himself a beer.

"Where'd you even find this? I thought a lot of his books were out of print," said Sam, following Dean to the kitchen.

"I went to that old bookstore on main and the guy just gave it to me for free, he was kind of weird about it."

"Lucky you, if they're handing out free books I might just head on over there myself."

"I don't know if you want to do that, the guy working there was kind of fucking weird. The other guy was cute though," Dean said, shrugging as he thought back to that blue-eyed angel.

"Oh? Tell me more."

"I don't think I want to, but I did find this," said Dean and pulled out the slip of paper and handed it over to his brother.

"What the hell? Who leaves something like this in a book that no one is ever going to read?' 

"That's what I'm wondering."

"Are you going to text her?"

"Don't know, maybe?" Dean said with a quick swig of his beer.

"What if it isn't a chick? What if it's some forty year old fat guy waiting for someone to text him and only to then kill you," Sam said, handing Dean the paper back.

"Why do you have to jump straight to the murder shit?"

"I mean it makes more sense than some hot girl wanting to hook up," Sam snickered.

"I like my idea more."

"Or maybe it's just someone who's lonely and this is their cry for help," Sam proposed. 

"Okay, now you're just making this depressing," whined Dean.

"Sorry?"

"You should be, I wanted this to be more funny but now I'm actually concerned about this person," said Dean, his thumb running across the number. 

"It's probably nothing, you know I like to overthink everything," said Sam, trying to cheer up his brother.

"Yeah, you're probably right," said Dean.

"So are you gonna text her?" 

"If I say yes will you leave me be?"

Sam nodded his head.

Dean shook his head and sighed, pulling out his phone. He went to his contacts and saved the number as Angel before texting a simple " _Hey._ "

"There. She's probably not even going to respond," said Dean, putting his phone away.

"That's possible or maybe, just maybe she'll actually text you back," said Sam, going into the fridge to get himself a beer too. "It would be a shame though, because the second she finds out it was your ugly mug who texted her she might block your number."

"Yeah right, she'll be begging to marry her on the spot," Dean scoffed, snatching the bottle of beer from his baby brother.

"What was that for, Casanova?!"

"You don't get your first drink till everyone else is here," Dean scolded, putting the beer back.

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

~•~•~

The bright light of the sun managed to find its way through the edges of the curtains and landed right on Dean's eyes. Slowly, he got up and tried to rub away some of the sleep but knew from the very second he sat up he was in trouble.

Bolting up from his spot on the ground he ran into his bathroom and threw up in the toilet. The entire night was a blur and given by how much bile he was spewing he guessed he must've drunken far too much for his own good. 

By the end of it, he just wanted to sit there and try to relax but begrudgingly got himself up. He looked in the mirror and groaned at the sight of a monocle drawn on his face with the words slut written across his forehead. 

It wasn't the best way to wake up but he had far worse in the past. After about 10 minutes of scrubbing, he was good as new.

He made his way to the kitchen and started to make breakfast. He knew Sam would be getting up any second now and if Dean was that smashed he could only imagine how his brother might've been. 

Not a minute later, Sam came stumbling in and groaning. 

"Morning Buttercup!" Dean shouted.

"Please… don't," Sam groaned, trying to cover his eyes. The second he smelled the strong smell of bacon and eggs, he began to gag.

"Nope, not on my floor," said Dean, kicking the trash can towards his brother and not a moment too soon.

When Sam's hands touched the bin, he immediately started blowing chunks. He was like that for about a minute before shooting up and was as good as new. 

"Dean," said Sam.

"Yeah?"

"Let's never do that again."

"I can't agree to that, I was born for this kind of life," chuckled Dean.

"Well I'm not, I can't say this is for me."

"You tried it at least and that's all I can ask," Dean said, handing over a plate of eggs bacon and toast to his brother.

He looked up and saw his phone resting on the table, a faint blinking light going off. A message.

Dean walked over to his phone and picked it up. When he went to his messages he saw that the mysterious angel responded. 

"What is it?" asked Sam, his face stuffed with food.

"She responded," answered Dean.

"What did she say?"

_Hello?_


	2. Detective Jo

He couldn't help but stare at the text, not really knowing what to say. Sam had left a few hours ago and Dean just laid on his couch, staring at the message. He would type something, leave it as a draft only to delete it and try something else.

What was the best thing to say? Should he ask about who she is? That probably wasn't the best idea, she might be weirded out and not respond.

As the more time went on, Dean was growing more impatient with himself. This was getting ridiculous, why was he trying so hard to find something to say?

His fingers quickly typed against his phone and without any more thinking, he hit send.

**What's up?**

It didn't even take a minute for Dean to get a response. So she's fast at replying, this could be good.

_I'm doing fine. I apologize if this comes off as rude but who are you?_

**You mean you don't remember me? I'm hurt...**

_That doesn't really help me know who this is. My phone is a newer model, so I suppose it didn't carry over all of my contacts. Name?_

Wow, she seems to be really… blunt. 

**I don't know if I want to give it to you, you might not text me back. :(**

_I don't see why I wouldn't, if you have my number then I must know you._

**That's the thing, you kind of don't.**

_I beg your pardon?_

**I found your number in a book I bought.**

_You did? That's strange, I don't ever remember doing that…_

She didn't remember putting her own number in a random ass book? Dean thought that if he did something like that he would probably remember doing it. Maybe it wasn't her who did it? It did seem weird but Dean didn't want to put too much thought into it.

**So does that mean you don't want to talk to me anymore? And I was just starting to have fun too.**

_I don't see why our conversation has to end. Work is a bit on the slow side today so this is a nice change of pace._

**Hell yeah! So what do you do for work?**

_I don't feel very comfortable telling you…_

That was a bit weird too. What does she do that she didn't want Dean to know? Was she ashamed of her job? Was she a dancer? That would be pretty hot. Wait, that probably shouldn't be the first thing to jump to. Maybe she just has a job that he could easily find out who she is if she said it. That's more than likely the right answer.

**That's fine, I get it if you don't want to share any private information with me. I could be a killer for all you know.**

_Are you?_

**Oh god no! I can't even bring it within myself to kill an animal much less a person.**

_Likewise, do you mind telling me how you found this number?_

**I already told you, I found it in a book.**

_Yes but I would like to hear more details._

**Alright, well since you asked so kindly. I went to this old family owned bookshop on Main street and picked a book at random. A slip of paper fell out and it had your number on it.**

_Was there anything else on it?_

**Yeah, it said your name was Angel.**

_Angel? That's not even my name…_

It wasn't? This was just getting weirder, who the hell bothered to give her a fake name and real number in the book? All these questions were piling up in Dean's head and he was close to getting a headache.

**Oh yeah? What is it then?**

_I don't feel comfortable saying that either._

**Let's make a deal then.**

_What kind of deal did you have in mind?_

**If I guess your name right, you have to tell me.**

_It's not likely you'll ever get it but sure, I'll play._

**Great! Now let me think… Juliet?**

_No._

**Sarah?**

_You're getting colder._

**Cassandra?**

_You got it!_

**Really?!**

_No, not really. You seem like you're having fun though._

**That's cold, really cold.**

_I have to go now, a customer just came in and I'll have to help them. My phone is always available if you would ever like to text me again._

**So you're saying you had a good time???**

_Yes, yes I did._

~•~•~

Dean could feel the minutes drag on as he waited for Jo to finally show up to their booth. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she looked as if she was just hit by a tornado. The only thing that didn't look as if it were thrown on sloppily was her shirt that read "Little Devil."

"Alright Winchester, spill," said Jo as she took her seat opposite Dean.

"I think you should go first, what's with the messy look?" Dean asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"I… met someone last night. At the party," she confessed, blushing while her hand went to cover a hickey.

"And when has Jo Harvelle been one to put out so easily," teased Dean.

"Since Dean Winchester thought it would be a good idea to text random girls' numbers. Now tell me what happened," Jo whined.

"Okay, okay. I found her number at the old bookstore on Main. It was in some old fantasy book and I figured to just text her cause why the hell not, you know?"

"Oh it would be so romantic if you two actually got together," Jo hummed.

"But the weird thing is that she says she doesn't even remember putting her number in any book and that the name it was written under wasn't her's."

"It could've been a number that belonged to someone else and she just got it over time."

"I don't know because she said it was a newer phone and she had to transfer over all of her contacts and some of them might've not gone through all the way. So maybe she always had that number?"

"Yeah, that is a possibility. Do you have any idea on who she is?"

"Nope, the only thing I know is that she was at work around noon."

"Not even a name? Damn, this is gonna be tough but don't worry because Jo Harvelle is on the case! This sounds like so much fun!" Jo giggled, clapping her hands.

"It's good to know I'm not the only one excited about this," Dean chuckled, handing the slip of paper to Jo.

"Hmm… well if this is a girl, she has some of the ugliest handwriting I've ever seen. You sure it isn't a guy?" Jo asked, looking over the paper.

"What kind of guy would be named Angel?"

"But her name isn't Angel."

"Maybe it was something one of her exes did so she could be harassed by whoever finds it."

"That doesn't sound right at all, maybe it was a prank by a friend?"

"I like that idea a lot more," sighed Dean.

"I'm gonna need more than just this to find out whoever this mystery girl is," said Jo.

"Like what?"

"We'll have to go back to the scene of the crime," Jo cheered, throwing her arm in the air triumphantly. 

"You want to go back to the bookstore?"

Jo nodded her head, smiling.

~•~•~

The old Novak Bookstore sign looked like it hadn't been touched since it was first made way back in 1937. Hell, the whole store looked practically untouched by time. It weirded Dean out.

Jo took Dean's hand and pushed her way into the store, making her presence known to the guy behind the counter. It caught him off guard as he jumped back a little.

"H-hello, how can I help you?" asked the same blue-eyed guy Dean had seen before. He was still as cute as before with his bedhead looking as crazy as ever.

"I think you definitely can," said Jo, leaning against the counter and winking at him.

"Okay, what would you like me to help you with then?" asked the man, closing his book.

"I mean you're kind of cute, do you have a name?" Jo asked, smirking.

"That's not what we're for. I got a book yesterday and I just wanted to ask a few questions about it," Dean interrupted, pushing Jo away. He held up the book and offered it to the guy.

"Oh that's alright, my name is Castiel. What about this book did you want to ask me about?" Castiel said, smiling awkwardly and taking the book to inspect it.

"Do you know anything about who owned this book before?" asked Dean.

"It's been in our collection for as long as I can remember. Ever since I was a child, actually," said Castiel, still flipping through the pages.

"So nobody else has owned this book before? Nobody on the more attractive side?" Jo chimed in, leaning against Dean.

"Uh… no, like I said, it's been here for far too many years to count. In all honesty, I'm surprised it was still on sale. I told my brother to take it off the shelves," said Castiel, shrugging and handing the book back to Dean.

"And why's that?" asked Dean.

"I'm quite fond of it by now but if somebody else is going to read it then I just hope they love it as much as I did. Have you read it yet?"

"No, I bought it for my brother. I actually came by because I found this in the book and wanted to see if I could learn anything about it," said Dean, holding the slip of paper up.

Castiel read the paper and for a split second, it looked as if he almost recognized the number scrawled on it. It happened so fast that Dean had completely missed it but Jo caught it almost instantly. 

"I haven't seen this number before," said Castiel.

"Oh yeah? Well maybe you can tell us about some of your customers?" said Jo, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Of course! What about them?" 

"Can you think of anybody that is usually in the fantasy section of your ever so fine establishment," Jo asked, sounding a bit sarcastic. 

"We have a regular who usually likes to read from there. She likes to buy as many books as she can whenever she stops by," said Castiel.

"Do you have any way we can get in touch with her?" 

"She left her contact information in the back. There's a board for local events and she left some paper there for something called… what was it?... Dungeons and…"

"Dungeons and Dragons?!"

"That's it! She likes to go on and on about it whenever she's here so I finally let her leave a request form for new members."

"Thanks, Castiel! You've been a big help," said Jo.

"You're welcome, come by anytime you'd like. Business has been rather slow," said Castiel, smiling and going back to his help.

As Dean and Jo were walking towards the back of the store, Dean could tell Jo had the gears turning around in her head. She was beginning to put the pieces of the puzzle together. 

"What is it?" Dean asked her.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing! You might want to be careful, if she's such a big fan of Dungeons and Dragons she might not be the kind of girl you want," warned Jo.

"And why's that?"

"She might be really ugly. Or smell like she never leaves her parent's basement. Or even worse, she might be both!"

"I love how optimistic you can be," sighed Dean.

When they both reach the board, Dean pulled down the paper and read over it. It looked like it had been there for months with no one even bothering to give her a call. 

It was a shame, had Dean known about her before he might've called her. Not for the potential that she could've been super hot but he'd always wanted to try out Dungeons and Dragons. He just knew no one that played it.

At the bottom of the paper it had the name, Charlie Bradbury, in bold letters. It surprised Dean that Jo had figured out this whole thing pretty quickly. She wasn't much of a puzzle solver but when it came to tracking people down, he knew she would be a big help.

The two made their way out of the store but as Dean was leaving, Jo stood at the door and eyed Castiel. 

When Castiel had finally noticed, he jumped a little and waved nervously to her. Jo only nodded her head and walked out, following close to Dean. She knew he was hiding something and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.


End file.
